For more details call Graham Russell, CORE’s Executive Director at 303-894-6332. You can also visit www.sosummit.org

Use of images, audio, video, Twitter, blogs and websites are now part of the news release landscape.  Yes, I’m still a believer in news releases, but with reservations.  One size does not fit all.  By this I mean that an announcement going to traditional media does not resemble news going to social media – those influential bloggers and tweeple who are today intrinsically part of our Zeitgeist.

For social media a more personal and direct approach is required. Most social media types have their specialized areas of interest. Read their feeds, join the conversation on their blogs and follow and respond to their Twitter streams. Once you get to know them and they have a feel for you then pitch them on relevant topics in a paragraph or two.

Improve your new releases by integrating a multimedia approach and carefully placing key words. Doing so will improve your chances of a news release being read by recipients and being found on search engines.  Hire a video production studio or set up your own to capture a company executive or expert talking about or showing a new product, feature or service.  Make it short and informative  so it adds value to the news release.  These “pictures” require fewer words in the news release and make it more compelling. An audio link can further explain a technical term, market segment language, or acronym.

A news release directed to the media has information organized in an invisible inverted pyramid or triangle.  The most important information goes into the headline/subheadline and first (lead) paragraph.  Additional information in descending order of importance follows. You can add a “quote” paragraph with comments from a person of importance in your organization that is relevant to the topic. It’s the only place in the news release where you should editorialize (offer an opinion). Your organization’s boilerplate is the final paragraph.

You can send your Twitter community links to your announcements.  Distribute your news to your own highly targeted media contact list through a service like Constant Contact or use a public service like PR Newswire, BusinessWire and PRWeb which all use a combination of traditional media, social media optimization and search engine optimization for wider distribution.

Send me your questions.  I’m here to help.

So, What IS News?

If you are thinking about writing a press release to create some buzz about your business or organization, make sure that what you are announcing is actually news. According to Wikipedia, news is “any single new information or information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience”.

News isn’t just reminding the public you are out there and thinly aligning yourself with the biggest topics of the moment. For example, the NBA Championships are underway and you want to announce that your disk drives are as durable as the ink in the players’ tats. Huh???!!!

News is advising your target audiences about something significant you haven’t made public before. Some examples include:

• New product or service offerings
• New technology
• Moving to a new location
• New customers/clients (Get their approval, first)
• Completion of a major project
• Speaking engagements (to a group, at a conference)
• Participation in non-profit events, such as sponsorships
• New executives joining your team
• Public demonstration of your product(s)
• Joint announcement with a vendor, partner
• Event that’s open to the public (open house, a sale)
• Recipient of an award
• A well-known luminary is visiting your facility
• Adopting sustainable business practices

When the media consider publishing your announcement they are deciding whether their readers would care. Remember, that they can research on the ‘Net anything you’ve announced before, so avoid re-announcing something because you don’t think it got enough “play” the first time around.

Send your news release to traditional media only and reach out to bloggers/twitterers when it’s relevant to do so. Ask yourself first: Is it part of the conversation? How would it add value?

Real news will lead to print and online articles in magazines, newspapers, journals and mentions in blogs and tweets.

We recycle. First, we reuse in the office. Printer paper is printed on both sides if it is not leaving the office. All ink jet cartridges and toner cartridges are refilled or recharged. File folders are reused. And, at home all possible items are sorted into the recycle bins.

We buy all our electricity through a program that funds wind energy development with Xcel. Coal fired electric plants must be phased out. To reduce our use of natural gas we keep temperatures just on the uncomfortable side.

We replaced our SUV (18 MPG) with a Camry Hybrid (36MPG). We still have a VW Passat but in several years we hope to trade it in on a plug-in electric vehicle. We watch our tire pressure. We change our oil at 3,000 miles. We limit the use of air conditioning. We try to drive with a soft foot and extract ourselves from the ad hype that speed and heavy iron matters. Certainly ego can be expressed in healthier ways. I will never understand why we let the car industry convince us that manhood or “coolness” is tied to the vehicles we drive.

We joined an organic farm community. The farm is a fourth generation family-run organization and has been organic for over 80 years. We also buy organic at the grocery.

We limit and are gradually eliminating the meat we consume. We’re inspired by the Engine #2 life style.

We pay our bills with online banking and ask that our bills be sent electronically. Technology is making it easier to reduce the size of the postal service.

We support CORE, a business trade association in Denver that promotes and educates the community on matters of sustainability and environmental concern.

We are converting our lighting to CFLs. I hope that we see LEDs come on strong.

The culture of consumerism has put the planet under tremendous pressure. CO2 concentrations are at the tipping point. It’s time for us all to do our best to mitigate the use of carbon and pass to future generations a cleaner version of planet Earth.

We are eager to hear and learn from you about your sustainability strategies. Go Green. Be Green.

We are also planning to interview key players in the Colorado tech and sustainibility  scene as well as talk with social media trend setters. Our goal is to share new ideas and review proven strategies to help you succeed.